


Waking Up

by aintweproudriff



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Multi, and a non consensual kiss that's not bad enough to put a warning on, i added to the soulmate au, lots of pain, relationships other than spralmer are only mentioned sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 10:54:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13165431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aintweproudriff/pseuds/aintweproudriff
Summary: Prompt: Spralmer Soulmate AU where each person gets a necklace at birth that is supposed to shine when you meet your soulmate(s).Spralmer meets for the first time in a hospital after Elmer's been in an accident.





	Waking Up

**Author's Note:**

> I'm always terrified to write soulmate aus because I feel like they're never organic for me, but I like how this one turned out!

His hand, clammy and shaky, flew to his chest and grabbed on to the silver pendant. Albert ran his thumb over it, twisting his fingers in the black string. It had never lit up, never gotten hot like it was supposed to. Albert pretended like he didn’t know that, or that he didn’t care, but he knew it, and he hated it. When someone saw their soulmate, the pendant that was specifically shaped for them at birth would glow and get hot.   
Albert had seen it happen loads of times. He’d never forget the day that Romeo met Specs, and how they had unashamedly run at each other and fallen on the floor in a dramatic hug. Then they had introduced themselves, and then they had left. Specs had said that he wanted to get to know Romeo. Romeo had said that he wanted to get to know Specs, and then he winked at everyone, letting each and every person know exactly what he had in mind. People laughed, and Romeo had dragged Specs out of the restaurant. Albert looked around anxiously, noticing for the first time that nearly all of his friends didn’t have necklaces anymore. When you found your soulmate, that was the only time that the necklace would come off. They all looked so happy, with nothing around their necks but with all of their hands in someone else’s. He had tucked the pendant into his shirt and made some comment about how predictable Romeo was. 

Now, when Albert was alone, the feeling didn’t go away. He still stressed and held the silver charm tightly, examining it over and over. Two sides jutted out and one side caved in, like a slightly smashed teardrop shape. He’d drawn it, over and over, until he came to a conclusion that frightened and excited him: there was no way to make that shape into a perfect circle by adding only one shape. The circle wasn’t complete until you added three shapes. Of course, he knew, the shape might not be a circle at all, but complete shapes were the most common. And he almost hoped that he would have more than one soulmate. It wasn’t unheard of, but it was certainly uncommon. Albert knew plenty of people with more than one soulmate. Henry, Jojo, and Buttons, for example, had been annoyingly in love for almost three years. Jack and Crutchie, although they had found each other, were still looking for another person who would finish their obviously incomplete shape. 

At times when Albert was alone, he sometimes felt a kind of tug. He couldn’t put the right words to it, but it was something in his heart and in his stomach, making him want to go somewhere. It was a longing to go away from wherever he was and off in some direction. His mom said it was that his soulmate was nearby. Jack said he felt that way when Crutchie’s leg hurt worse than usual.   
Most of the time, it was something he could ignore. Tonight, however, it was too strong to push off. His stomach turned over, and it felt like someone was sitting on his chest. With his hand on his necklace, Albert clicked his seatbelt and turned the engine, backing out of his driveway as fast as he could. Intuition took him in the opposite way of how he would usually go, and it felt like someone was turning the wheel for him. The car rolled down streets that Albert had never seen before, which made him nervous. But as he went south, the pain lessened. It didn’t go away, he noted as tears rolled down his face while he was at a red light, but it was more bearable than before. A building at the end of the road stopped Albert from continuing. A hospital. 

“Fuck,” Albert breathed, pulling the car to the side of the road and parking it. He jumped out, not bothering to see if he was allowed to park there, and ran up to the hospital.   
Inside, bright lights seared his already agitated head. He began to walk, trusting that his instincts would take him where he needed to be. 

“Excuse me!” called a shrill voice. Albert stopped and turned around. “Yes, you!” said the lady at the front desk. “Where are you going?”

He walked back, noticing that even taking tiny steps towards her made the pain increase. He grimaced. “I don’t, I don’t know. I’m not sure. But I think,” he panted, “my soulmate. I think my soulmate is here, and in a lot of pain. I don’t know who they are,” he shook his head when he saw her reach for her computer system to look up a name. Tears began to fall again, clouding the sides of his vision. “I’ve never met them. But they’re in pain. And they’re here. And this-” he fished his necklace out from where it was hidden underneath his hoodie “-is hot and glowing and I’m,” Albert stuttered taking a breath that he desperately needed, “I’m so scared.”

He must have looked pretty pathetic, because she gave in. 

“I’m going to send security with you, for obvious reasons,” she nodded and waved over a man in blue, “but I can tell that you’re both in pain and very serious.”

“Thank you,” he did his best to smile and ran off, the security guard following him closely. He was told to walk, but now that his legs were moving there was no way to stop them. His heart led them both to a door, and it was a searing pain when he put his hand on the knob but didn’t open it. He looked back, and the security guard nodded at him and took a step back. 

Albert stepped through the door. Two boys were at a bedside, and the thing he noticed first about them was not their appearance. It was that they were holding hands, and that both of them wore glowing teardrop shaped necklaces. But the second that his brain registered that, his eyes moved to the bed. A boy with dark hair and a round face was tucked under white blankets, and his eyes were closed. Albert walked up to the bedside, holding his necklace. 

“Hi,” he whispered to the two boys. Their eyes widened when they saw the shining pendant. 

“Hi,” one of them whispered back. The one who didn’t talk moved his fingers to the chest of the sleeping boy, and tugged at the collar of his shirt to reveal black thread. At the bottom of the thread was a charm, identical to Albert’s. 

“What’s his name?” Albert asked softly, pointing at the boy.

“Elmer,” said the one who had spoken earlier. 

“And yours?” Albert asked him.

“Race.”

Albert turned to look at the other boy, raising his eyebrows questioningly. 

“Spot.”

“Spot, Race,” Albert replied, almost cracking a smile at the ludicrous names, “I’m Albert.”

Silence fell, save for the beeping of machines. 

“It was a car crash,” Spot said, looking at Elmer. “Hit his head real bad. He’s in a coma.”

“Oh my god,” Albert winced. “Is he going to-”

“We don’t know when he’ll wake up,” Spot answered the unasked question. “Or if he’ll wake up, honestly. Doctors will be in soon to tell us.”

Albert nodded. “Were you two in the car crash too?”

“Oh, no,” Race shook his head. “No. We just met him today. Actually, we-” he pointed at Spot “-just met today.”

“Hell of a way to meet your soulmate,” Spot grumbled. Albert was inclined to agree. 

The door opened, and a doctor stepped in. 

“I, uh, heard there were a few unexpected guests in here,” he said. “This happens sometimes, with soulmates. You felt his pain and, well, you know.”

“Yeah, we know,” Race bit. “Do you have news?”

The doctor bit his lip. “Yes. And it isn’t good news. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you honestly that he will wake up.”

“E-ever?” Albert felt his heart fall to the floor. 

“Possibly, yes,” the doctor nodded, and Race hid under Spot’s arm. “I’m so, so sorry.”

Albert nodded at him, trying to be cool despite the way that the pain was flaring up again. He crouched down, kneeling and putting his hands next to his soulmate’s. 

“Hi Elmer,” he said, smiling through the way his stomach was being flattened. Spot and Race were in the same position as Albert, Race resting his head on the sheets near Elmer’s head. He wondered for a moment if they would think he was weird for talking to Elmer like this. But he kept going. “I didn’t want to meet you like this,” he laughed. “I was hoping this would be easier, cuter. But oh well. Sometimes this kind of thing happens.” Albert paused. “Elmer, they said you might not wake up. Like, ever.” Albert’s voice cracked. “I don’t want that. I haven’t met you yet, not really.”

“Please, Elmer,” he heard Race say. “This was supposed to be the happiest day ever. I wanted to kiss each of you before I even knew your names. That was my grand romantic plan,” he laughed at himself. “But today, it just didn’t seem like the right thing to do. I wish it had.”

Spot spoke up. “I don’t know what to say, but I feel like I gotta say somethin’.” His voice was low and gravelly. “But I wanted to know you. And I wanna know you. We’ve got a lot to do together, the four of us, and we couldn’t do it the same with just three.”

“Please,” Albert reached for Elmer’s hand. His throat was coated with tears that refused to stop falling. “You three - you, Elmer - are all I’ve wanted for too long. A soulmate, or three, is what I’ve needed and wanted and wished for for years, and I don’t wanna do anything else, ever, without this circle bein’ full.” He wiped his face.

“You three should get some food and rest,” the doctor patted Albert’s shoulder. “I promise he’ll still be here.”

Spot nodded and stood up. Race followed, as did a very disoriented Albert. But almost as soon as the door closed behind them, it flew open again. 

“Wait!” the doctor rushed out. “He’s moving.”

They clambored back inside, just in time to see Elmer reach out his hand. 

“He’s waking up,” Spot breathed.

“It might still be the happiest day of your life,” said the doctor.

Elmer opened his eyes only a moment later. Not wanting to overwhelm him, his soulmates stayed back. They looked at each other excitedly, their faces stretched in huge smiles while the doctor explained what had happened.

“And who are these people?” Elmer asked the doctor.

“These are your soulmates. Your pain was so intense that they felt it and came to find you,” he smiled at Elmer, and then at the other boys. 

Race was the first to step forward, walking right up to the edge of the bed and kissing Elmer square on the mouth. He turned around, grinning. “Halfway,” he whispered to Spot and Albert while pumping his fist. The other boys laughed lowly. Laughter felt foreign right now, but so needed. 

“Sorry, what?” Elmer asked.

“He wanted to kiss his soulmate before he knew their name,” Spot explained. “He knows your name, but you don’t know his - it’s Race, by the way - so that’s halfway to his ‘big romantic plan’.”

“Oh.” Elmer squinted and laughed. “That’s kinda funny, I guess.”

“That’s me,” Race nodded sincerely. “Kinda funny, you guess.”

Elmer pointed at the other two. “And your names are-”

“Albert,” Albert said, pointing to himself, and then pointed to the other boy, “and Spot.”

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” Elmer frowned, “I thought that just me being hurt was enough. Not to mention I hurt my soulmates.” 

Albert rushed to his side. “It’s okay now. We wouldn’t have met each other if you hadn’t been hurt. I’m not saying I want you to be hurt, of course. But I think that a little pain was worth it to meet you,” Albert’s words wanted to heal Elmer. 

“I’d do it again,” mused Spot, and Race hummed in agreement. 

“I’m sorry, boys,” the doctor interrupted, “but he needs food and rest, and we need to do some checkups now.”

Albert led Spot and Race out of the room and into the hallway. They’d be back in as soon as they were able, he knew. The four of them had a lot to talk about, and a long way to go.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Come talk to me on tumblr @spot-and-all-his-cronies


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